Valley key

[Richard Maund]

I have come across two situations in which a (or the) "Valley key" was required by trainmen working freight trains
in the Consett area - one to unlock a trailing siding connnection with the Up line in the Rowley - Burnhill Jn
section, the other to unlock a gate across the line at the boundary of the ammunition depot at Burnhill Jn.

Can anyone say what is the significance of "valley": was this key (a) akin to an Annetts key (circumventing Annett's
patent or rights?), or (b) simply the key for "the valley" (i.e. a key required to be held by a crew working a particular
geographical area).

[Orkney]

Whilst I cannot offer an answer to the valley key I did visit the site in the mid 1960s. The Waskerley branch was still in use with several mineral trains each week. Whilst these were not particularly long, I recall that there was not a great deal of room at the junction for the loco to run round the train. It was necessary therefore to open the MoD gate to achieve this. I am not certain that it was latterly used as an ammunition depot but I could be wrong. Certainly there were items stored there and the MoD police were active if they spotted someone on the BR line. There was a narrow gauge system on the site but I suspect that this was out of use when I visited because there were two small diesel locos secured on open wagons and ready for removal.